I would like to say thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed my works. Not just ThunderCats but Flame of Recca and Sailor Moon. Feedback means a lot to me. It inspires me to write more, if anything.

This work of fiction is dedicated to all the rabid and not-so-rabid Tygra x Cheetara fans out there. I'm included in the rabid ones.

This is inspired by my other favorite couple, Bruce (Wayne) and Diana (of Themyscira) and the Justice League episode "This Little Piggy."

This is also meant to be a light-hearted story. Not as emotionally or physically wrought as my previous work.

And as a constant, I own nothing of the Thundercats. That honor belongs to Ted Wolf, Warner Bros, etcetera.

Here goes. Set after The Forest of Magi Oar and before Into The Astral Plane.

"Please don't tell me we're lost again. Seriously."

No one dared reply to the irate thunderan general. They all knew better.

It was getting close to sunset. They have been circling in the Thundertank for a good 45 minutes and seem to end up in the same spot.

There was nothing but a clump of long trunk trees with small patches of branches and leaves on their very tops. They seemed to go on for miles and miles with no end in sight. There were a few clumps of regular fruit trees but the branches were bare and thickets of briar spread to cover the rest of the forest floor.

Lion-O found a carving on one of the tree trunks, underneath which were what appeared to be remains of a boar. It was not the wild variety. It was one closer to his size.

"Infinite Tears." he read aloud as he read the carving.

A collective amount of kiddie-ear-safe-curses were heard from all the adult thundercats.

"What?" Lion-O turned.

"You probably were dozing off when they taught this in Thunderan History class." Tygra shook his head. "This is the forest of Infinite tears." he motioned towards the endless row of trees." Almost every inch of the forest looks exactly the same and if you get lost in there, there's no telling when you can get out, or if you ever will." He pointed to the skeleton by Lion-O's feet. "That one obviously didn't."

WilyKit, tired and hungry rapidly burst into tears, "What do we do now?" she wailed. "I'm hungry!"

They all sighed and stared at the tree where they had noted the carving. Not a word out of anyone.

"Well, we don't have much of a choice now do we?" Panthro snarled. "Maybe we should set up camp here until we can figure out how to get out of this ridiculous place."

He parked the Thundertank on that very spot and jumped out. He started unpacking their things. Thankfully they still had some supplies left over so they didn't need to forage for food.

His jaw dropped when the food basket was empty, save for a loaf of bread and a few pieces of fruit.

He picked up the basket, lifted it up and showed it to everyone. "Someone tell me this is a practical joke."

They all looked at each other in unison.

No one was confessing.

The panther all but threw his hands up in the air and just continued unpacking.

"Can you use sight beyond sight, Lion-O?" Cheetara asked the king.

"I did." he replied, "I think is place is enchanted too." he referenced the forest of Magi Oar. "All I can see was spider webs."

After a few more attempts at trying to see beyond where they were, Lion-O decided to give it up for the moment. Maybe he'll have better luck tomorrow. Considering he just mastered sight beyond sight at the forest of Magi Oar, the fact that it wasn't working in here seemed ominous.

They started a fire and set up camp. The tiger laid the leftovers for dividing.

Tygra split the food, deciding that he was going to starve tonight and gave his share to Cheetara and the kittens.

"You didn't have to do that. "Cheetara told him when he gave her his portion. "I could stand to lose a couple of pounds." She joked heartily pointing to her midsection.

That's where his gaze rapidly shifted to, then went back to her face when he thought he was looking a little too long. Asfar as I'm concerned you're perfect the way you are, he mentally noted, hoping that he didn't say that aloud.

"You and your honey laden tongue." the cleric laughed.

Oops, guess he did say what he was thinking.

That comment didn't seem to miss his brother as the lion threw him a look.

"Much as I hate to suggest it, we should probably look for some food." Panthro commented as his stomach growled but a few minutes after eating what they had left.

"There doesn't seem to be much of anything in there." Lion-O said.

"If I remember right, there are a few patches of wild fruit and vegetables that are sustained in the forest of infinite tears." Cheetara recalled. "I can make a quick trip in there."

"You might get lost in there." the brothers spoke simultaneously.

"I'm coming with you." they said again at the same time. They looked at each other with a gaze sizing up their sibling.

"Want to come with me, Kat?" she chose to ignore the two and took the young one's hand. "We should probably use that string of yours." she suggested. "Tie it up to your waist on one end and the other end to the Thundertank so we can follow it back."

WilyKat nodded and attached one end of the string to the tank and one on him. He winked at the brothers and waved them goodbye as he walked with the cheetah. "Byeeee…."

"That was smooth…NOT." Panthro chuckled as he glanced at the two royals and then returned back to unpacking. "Come on over and help me get everything up Kit."

Cheetara had picked up Kat and made a rapid dash through the thicket. It took a few minutes before they found a small patch of wild fruits and vegetables growing randomly. They stopped and started gathering the harvest when Kat noted a clump of brightly colored, plump mushrooms underneath an unusual looking tree.

"Pretty!" he said as he plucked one. As soon as he did, the mushroom grew three times its size and started to waft an aroma of meat. "Wow! This is magic!"

He bit enthusiastically into it and swallowed heartily before Cheetara had noticed what he was doing. "Kat, no!"

"You don't know what the stuff is." She approached the young one and took the half bitten mushroom. It was pretty, juicy and smelled like meat.

Strange. She's never seen this variety before in all of her studies. None of the mushrooms looked anything alike. They were all clumped together and were vividly colored. Kat had already gathered a few dozen of them and they all smelled differently. One was like candy, the other one like fish, and another one smelled like freshly baked bread. They were all sizable too, each one unique.

She looked over the spot where he had taken it from. The tree whose roots where the mushrooms grew from was even stranger. Funny, she's never seen this manner of tree in her studies either.

This forest is beginning to give me the creeps, she thought as she helped WilyKat put the mushrooms in a sack they brought.

They started heading back to camp.

"Perfect, we can make soup!" Panthro enthusiastically donned an apron and started boiling some water. He picked up one of the unusual mushrooms and eyed it thoughtfully. "I've never seen one of these." He remarked as he started cleaning up the vegetables that were gathered. "Are you sure these aren't poisonous?"

"I've eaten half of one and I'm okay!" WilyKat said.

"I don't know." Panthro rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe I can place it separately in a salad and make sure its edible." He turned to the lord of the Thundercats and asked. "Can your sword tell if a mushroom is poisonous or not?"

Lion-O wasn't sure how to respond to that one.

"Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight."

He felt a little ridiculous asking the sword if a weird mushroom was dangerous. He could hear a snicker in the background and he didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

"Well if you're so brave, why don't you try it?" He challenged his laughing brother who sat a few feet away, trying to unsuccessfully wipe the tears off his eyes.

"Did you see anything?" Tygra tried to regain his composure.

"Afraid to taste it I see."

"I'm just making an intelligent choice here." He argued.

WilyKat took the other half of what he ate and offered it to both princes, as though trying to settle the debate. "This one tastes like steak."

Cheetara stood up and took the mushroom from the thunderkitten and took a bite, much to the brothers' shock.

She munched on it a few times before speaking. "I remember now what this is." She responded to the wide-eyed stare she was getting from around the campfire. "It's called the hroom." She elaborated after swallowing a piece, "They're a very rare species of mushroom that belong to the same family but are never alike individually, both in taste and appearance."

"How do you know they belong together then?" Panthro asked.

"They share a common root." Cheetara explained. "They grow together in a clump, and no other kind of mushroom can ever grow around them. They all look and taste different, but if you cut them in sections, their inside pattern is exactly the same." She demonstrated this by taking two from the pile and slicing them in half. The middle was exactly the same.

"So it's not poisonous?" WilyKit asked. "I want to try the one that smells like figs!"

The cheetah nodded. She realized but a minute or two ago what these growths were. She didn't recognize them at first, but then later recalled seeing them in an old cleric book she had come across. It was when she had first started her training, so it took a while to remember.

Panthro did end up making a salad out of the mushrooms and everyone just about fought over the last sliver that tasted vaguely like fish roe. They all took in an early nightcap and hopes that the sun would cast a more favorable shadow and help them find their way out.

As the cats slept, a figure was crouched low amongst the bushes. A sly cackle emanated from its wiry frame.

"Gotcha."

The following day, they started to map out their route to try to get out of the forest of infinite tears.

"How about we try to make markers by carving on the trees?"

"But then how do we pick which way to go?"

"Can you try sight beyond sight again?"

"Sure, I can try again."

The kittens helped Tygra pack up while the other three tried to map out a strategy.

"Hold on there." Tygra interrupted WilyKat as he was about to step on the spider. Tygra gently laid his hand open and allowed the spider to crawl on it, much to the Thunderkittens' horror.

"This is a good spider." He told the petrified duo. He indicated the copper tips of its feet. "This is a Cupremianticia Arachnida. Its web is very durable and has been used in weapons. It also eats a lot of the bad bugs out there." He smiled as the brother and sister were staring at it aghast, "It's also a very friendly one." He offered it to the two bewildered kittens.

Kat, the more daring of the two, opened his palm and allowed the spider to crawl on it. It took him about a minute before he relaxed. The spider seemed to settle comfortably in the middle of his hand. It then rapidly spun around his wrist and created a copper-colored web bracelet. The young cat squealed in delight.

"Wow! You're soooo smart, Tygra!" Kat exclaimed as he went about releasing the spider to a nearby tree after letting it play on his hand. "That was awesome!"

"Tell me something I don't know." the tiger tilted his head in pride.

"If we don't watch it, we're going to have two Tygras in our midst." Panthro commented, taking a glance at Tygra and his diminutive fan.

Cheetara laughed, "That can't be too bad, can it?"

"I don't know if the Thundertank can handle all that hot air." the lion remarked.

"You're just jealous that I have someone who thinks I'm awesome." Tygra called out to his younger brother.

His brother took a quick side glance at the cleric who happened to be looking the other way before shifting his gaze to his scowling brother. "That's okay. I've already got someone on my side." he stuck a tongue out as a response to the tiger's blazing stare of death.

You wish, Tygra wanted to say out loud but held his tongue back as Cheetara passed in front of him to put in some of their camping gear into the tank. He had but a brief aroma of her hair as she walked by.

She's so beautiful.

What I'd give to run my claws through your hair.

"Close that mouth, you're drooling." Panthro nudged him. "Again."

Tygra about-faced, trying to hide the red in his cheeks as he continued to clean up. He's got to learn to control this unmanly reaction of blushing. It was so unlike of him to do so.

They had started their journey, carefully marking trees as they walked by. The path seemed to go on forever and ever, yet they knew they weren't going the same way as they didn't pass any of the marks they've made.

"Do we have any of those mushrooms left?" Lion-O asked, "This walking is making me hungry."

"They've all been devoured last night." Panthro said. "Maybe we'll pass some on the way."

"There! There's the tree!" WilyKat pointed out not too far ahead. It was the same tree he and Cheetara had found yesterday. He dashed towards it and enthusiastically started picking some mushrooms at the base of the tree.

But before anyone else can come near the kitten, a gray cloud appeared and surrounded him in a thick mist.

"WilyKat!"

Cheetara made a mad dash to grab him but disappeared into the thick cloud herself. The only indication of her still being there was a notable cough.

Panthro stepped back and held everyone aside before they charged towards the thick smoke. "Wait! We don't know what's in there!"

"Smart move, General." a high pitched elderly voice spoke from the mist. The smoke parted in the middle to reveal an old hyena. She was rail thin and couldn't be younger than a century. She had long, scraggly hair, a thick purple velvet cloak and eyes that blazed blood red. Her teeth were rotting from the inside out but they still had sharp edges that reeked of death.

"Crocutta!" he recognized her decaying form. "But you died during the Lizard Wars!"

"You know her, Panthro?" Tygra asked. "Where's Cheetara? and WilyKat?" he demanded as the mist evaporated and showed no signs of the two.

The old hyena cackled. "General Panthro and I here are longtime acquaintances." she said. "Care to explain to these young 'uns, General?"

"She's a witch." the panther warned, his arms still extended to keep the other cats away.

"Enchantress is my preferred term." she snarled. "Yes, I fought with the lizards as their guardian and spellbinder. You and your oppressive race! Try to smother us with your ideals!" she ranted on, "Well, your friend Grune was a lousy shot anyway! That arrow didn't kill me and here I am. Alive and kicking your tails."

"Where are our friends, witch?" Lion-O pushed aside Panthro's arm. He extended the sword of Omens, aiming it at the hyena's throat.

She cackled louder, not flinching as the blade was but a hair of her jugular. She eyed the king of Thundera with her bloodshot eye. "Do you really think you can scare me with the sword of Omens, you insolent little fool?" she pulled aside the neck of her cloak and revealed at least a dozen scars. "I have long stopped fearing death, King Lion-O." the young monarch's eyes popped hearing her calling him by name. "Killing me only makes it worse for you, as you will never find your cleric and the kitten."

"What do you want from us, Crocutta?" Panthro said finally, knowing it was a moot point threatening the old hag. He motioned for the two princes to withdraw their weapons.

"Your friends here have stolen from my enchanted garden!" she shrieked. "Do you know how hard it is to raise the hroom? Those plants are for me and my friends here!" she referred to what seemed like an empty forest, but on deeper inspection, a small army of shadowy figures lurked in the background, their eyes glowed like fireflies in the night. "You will pay for your theft!"

"They didn't know it was your garden." Tygra tried to reason out, though his grip on his whip was tightening. "We did not mean to take your food and we apologize."

Lion-O's ears perked hearing his brother negotiating of sorts. He was more used to Tygra getting more aggressive instead of backing down.

Crocutta raised her graying brows. "A sensible one you have here, General. He knows when the cards are not in his favor." she sneered, eyeing the tiger before approaching him and looking him in the eye. "I sense you are different from these two," she smirked as she inspected him while shuffling around him. "You would make a great addition to Master Mumm-Ra's army."

Tygra tried not to flinch when she whispered in his ear, "Would you like your own kingdom, Tygra?" she bribed, "Where you are King and answerable to no one?" she smiled diabolically as she took a glance at Lion-O who heard everything. "Where you will be recognized for your individual greatness and not for your blood relations?"

Lion-O thought the witch's words pierced through his brother as he saw a momentary glint in Tygra's eyes. He was about to make a move when he heard a snap of Tygra's whip. The tiger had snapped it enough just to jolt the old hag and jump away from her.

"Much as I am flattered by your recognition of my greatness, I have to say thanks but no thanks." the infamous smirk now appearing on his features. "Now if you would kindly tell us what we may negotiate here so we can proceed on our own separate ways."

The old witch snorted. "What you do not know about magic, dear prince, is that everything has its price." she said before turning to Panthro and Lion-O. She leaned over and cackled, "Make me an offer I cannot refuse and maybe," she paused, "Maybe I will think of giving them back. Maybe." she laughed maniacally before turning around and walked towards the tree, "An old hag gets lonely around here you know. Those two younglings would make perfect company. I can't see or move much anymore." and with a tap of her walking stick, she disappeared before the tree where the mushrooms grew. The cats attempted to follow her but she had vanished too quickly.

"What do we do now?" WilyKit asked for the first time since everything transpired.

"Figure out where she lives and get the others back." Lion-O responded. It was more of a general response rather than a plan. He didn't have one at this moment.

The remaining thundercats looked at each other, trying to figure their way out of this one.

"I'm scared."

WilyKat huddled on the floor of their prison. Cheetara sat next to him and rubbed his back for reassurance.

"We'll get out of here, I promise." she told the young cat. That statement was more to comfort him and herself. Truth be told she had no idea where they were or what even happened in the first place. All she could tell was that they were in a dark confined space. The ceiling was a mere foot from the top of her head and the walls barely held the length of her staff. Cheetara remembered trying to pull the kitten out of a thick mist and the next thing she knew the two of them were in this prison. She had tried in vain to knock the walls down with her staff but it was impenetrable. The staff that Viragor had given her barely scraped the floors and walls.

"Well, well, look what I have here."

The darkness suddenly gave way to a bright flood of lights. Cheetara shielded her eyes from the sudden daylight. When she opened them and adjusted to the light, she saw a gigantic pair of blood red eyes peering at her and the kitten. She immediately raised her staff in defense.

"Who are you and what do you want from us?" she demanded.

A wicked, earth shattering cackle reverberated throughout their tiny prison. The ground shook as well as the walls. "Crocutta's the name, and sorcery is my game." she said.

"Release us now." Cheetara demanded. "We mean no harm. We are but travelers who got lost."

"Travelers who ate the garden I worked all my life for!" she screamed in her shrill voice. "You greedy, entitled thundercats! Always trying to repress us! Forcing your ideologies on other races and destroying them when they disagree! You just take what you want, when you want with no regard or concern for others!"

The cleric was slightly taken aback by the hyena's accusations. She's never known their race to oppress anyone, as far as she knew. Perhaps the old hyena was losing her senses.

Either way, she and WilyKat needed to get out of there.

"Madam I and my companion here apologize if we had taken things from your garden. We didn't know. How may we pay you?"

"With your lives."

Cheetara didn't like that reply.

"That doesn't seem fair." she bravely stated.

Crocutta turned about and met the cleric eye to eye. "I'll tell you what's not fair." she said, "Being trapped in this mundane forest, having nothing but mute zombies for company and not seeing a soul wanting to interact with you in the slightest!"

"Why don't you leave?" WilyKat finally spoke.

"Because there is nothing out there for me." her angry tone suddenly shifted to one of despair. "I have been dead in the eyes of my family for decades." she said. "This forest and whoever gets lost in it, keep me company, for the most part." she indicated a mountain of bones on one corner of what appears to be her cave. "But none of them had wanted to stay, itching to leave after they take advantage of my generosity." her voice mellowed down, "That garden of hrooms kept my sanity and you just had to take it for your greedy selves! Just like everyone else."

Cheetara felt a little twinge of sympathy for the old hag, but that didn't mean she wanted to stay here and keep her entertained.

"Madam we understand your loneliness."

"No you do not!" the hyena snapped at her. The two felt the whole prison shake. "You, and your pretty little head. Two little princes fighting for your undivided attention! You do not know my pain!"

The last comment rendered the two thundercats speechless.

"What are you going to do with us?" Cheetara asked at last, "You can't keep us in this cage forever."

"You are correct." the hyena said. She waved her mystical staff and once a gray mist has cleared, Cheetara and WilyKat found themselves out of their small prison and into the cave where the old hag lived.

"I've got to make sure you don't escape of course." Crocutta cackled as she picked up Cheetara's staff that was on the floor and walk away with it.

Why can't I move? the older thundercat attempted to stop the old witch from walking away with her staff. It wasn't until she saw her hands and feet that she realized why.

Her extremities have been replaced with warty, webbed feet. When she saw here reflection on a pool of water on the floor, she gasped at the sight she had seen.

She had transformed into a toad.

And one of her legs was chained to the floor.

She turned over to WilyKat. The hyena had changed him into a rat.

Cheetara tried to open her mouth to comfort the obviously petrified kitten.

"Ribbit."

Great Thundera, we're in real trouble now.

"Where could they have disappeared to?" Panthro was making a thorough inspection of the tree where the witch had vanished. The tree was solid, no secret entrances, no hollow openings of any sort. He had tried to uproot it but found nothing but long roots and soil.

Tygra kneeled by the mushrooms, trying to see if there was any clue the elderly hyena had left behind that may let them know her whereabouts. He felt helpless as a cloud of worry fogged his brain.

I wonder if she's safe, he thought about the cleric. Not that he didn't trust that she couldn't defend herself, but not knowing the extent of the hag's powers had him greatly concerned.

This is my fault. I shouldn't have let her hunt for food last night. He blamed himself for the dilemma. But he also partly blamed Lion-O. The two of them were the ones who scarved down their supplies in a moment of lousy judgment and lack of foresight. They didn't think they'd get lost again.

He rubbed his forehead thoughtfully, trying to clear it. The witch had mentioned something about everything having its price. He wondered what it would take to get back their fellow cats.

"Any bright ideas?" Lion-O asked. The young king, Tygra can tell, was having a guilt trip as well. Though neither of them said a word, they both knew that they contributed to this situation.

The panther was thoughtfully silent before speaking up. "She did mention something about paying her back somehow. But with what?" he wondered.

"Would you be able to part ways with the Thundertank?" Lion-O suggested, "Maybe not." He immediately withdrew his statement when he received a look that would make even Mumm-Ra shake in his wrappings.

"Well we can't trade in the sword of Omens that's for certain." Panthro counteracted.

The kitten shrugged. "Maybe we can help her plant a new garden?"

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." Panthro said. "That old hag is tricky as tricky can be. I have a feeling she put those mushrooms out there on purpose."

Had the hyena been there she would've confirmed the panther's words.

She did leave those mushrooms there on purpose. She always had. Her words of telling the lost souls who happened upon them this whole sob story about them consuming her livelihood was just for a guilt trip. In truth and in fact, they were no harder to raise than the average fruit tree. The only difficult thing about them was resisting eating them all because of the taste. She had found out by accident a decade ago that raising them brought her company, which was for a banished old witch was worth the trouble. After the debacle at the Lizard Wars, Mumm-Ra had exiled her here. Never to return to his pyramid until she redeemed herself. In her solitude she had learned and later designed using the hrooms as a trap. The less desirable characters that they brought in were made as her helpers until they perished. The better ones were turned into roaming zombies that wandered the forest, waiting for her to snap them out of her spell. Her plan was to make Mumm-Ra an invincible army so that he would take her back into his counsel.

Yesterday, she had just about died of excitement when she found out who stumbled upon her garden. It didn't take more than common sense to figure out who they were when she saw the sword of Omens. Mumm-Ra was certainly going to take her back if she ever captured all of them. She realized however that her magic was not as potent as it used to be. The spell she used to capture the cleric and the kitten just about sent her into a coma. She just had to figure out a less taxing way to get all of them, or, at the very least, the young lord of the Thundercats. His older brother wouldn't be so bad either.

Her bloodshot gaze turned to the frog and the rat she had chained to the corner of her cave. "They better hurry up and save your tails." she laughed, "That spell can become permanent after a while."

The rat broke down in tears.

The toad seethed in fury.

"Maybe she wants you." Lion-O piped up after pondering. His older brother raised his brows. "She kept hitting on you when she first came out."

It took all his strength not to throttle the lion. "This isn't the time for jokes, Lion-O." he snapped. Thundera knows what they're going through in the hands of the spellbinder. Tygra can't help the worry that crossed his features. Please Gods, let them be safe.

"Or she wants you and your sword." Panthro interjected. "Maybe even all of us, who knows? The important thing is that we get them out and get the hell out of this hole."

"We've got to find out where she took Cheetara and Kat." Tygra said. "Lure her out of wherever she's hiding and follow her to where she disappears." he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. His gaze moved over to the clump of hrooms by his feet. He then saw a copper toed spider crawling on their surface. He wasn't completely sure it was the exact one he saved from getting stomped on this morning but it sure looked like it.

He got down on one knee and opened his palm. The spider crawled happily onto it. He raised his hand and met the arachnid eye to eye.

"I am going to need your help my friend." he said as an idea crossed his head. To save my beloved and Kat.

The spider tilted its head, as though it understood what he was trying to convey.

"I've got an idea."

To be continued…

Okay, you know this was supposed to be a light-hearted one shot that had somebody morph into a frog and be the point of the whole story (my original idea was to turn Lion-O into a frog). But quite obviously its' turned into something else. Argh! I suppose I miss the series so I end up trying to fill it with some cockamamie idea I have dancing in my head. So there's a part two, where the romance part comes I guess. I had a little trouble trying to decide what timeline this was to appear in. So I made it somewhere after The Forest of Magi Oar and before Into the Astral Plane. Crocutta, by the way, is an original character I made up. She was supposed to have just a cameo but goodness knows that isn't the case now. I consider this a JFKF (just for kicks fic, lol).